Women’s Basketball Team Lends Helping Hand in Hammond

We wanted to get involved in the community. We wanted to come here today and do what we could.

Posted August 19, 2016, Rick Harvey, Hammond, LA

From board games to coloring books to bouncing balls, children staying in the American Red Cross shelter in Hammond, La., have many things to keep them occupied.

Some special visitors contributed to that in a big way the afternoon of August 16.

Members of the women’s basketball team from Southeastern Louisiana University, located just a few miles from the shelter, volunteered to help those displaced by the catastrophic flooding.

“We wanted to get involved in the community,” assistant coach Aja Gibson said. “We wanted to come here today and do what we could.”

The team’s visit consisted of playing with the children – including exercises – and serving lunch to those staying at the shelter. It was the second day of community service for the players, who helped clean a flood-impacted home a day earlier.

“We wanted to help keep the children occupied,” Gibson said. “It’s a big building here and they are sitting a lot, so we wanted to play with them, get them up and moving. Everyone is being appreciative. We loved playing with the kids – the Red Cross volunteers here needed a break, too.”